Exercise Can Make You Smarter

Exercise is a proven method for maintaining and enhancing physical capabilities. But what does it actually do to our brain? What if anything? Given that muscles operate somewhat differently from the neurological circuits of the brain, it makes little sense scientifically. It sounds like a fiction that health blogs and gym dudes are spreading without much scientific support.

That was, of course, before a few researchers at the University of British Columbia decided to undertake a study on the subject to settle the issue. They discovered that exercise increases the size of the hippocampus, the region of the brain in charge of critical mental processes like memory and learning, in addition to giving you what many people on the streets refer to as a "six pack."